Goalie Sharp Just That in Clutch for Esperanza
Esperanza goalkeeper Tracy Sharp was burned once Thursday afternoon and she made up her mind not to let it happen again.
When the Aztecs rallied in 77th minute of regulation to send their Sunset League showdown with Los Alamitos into overtime, Sharp, a senior goalkeeper, was ready. She made two dazzling saves in the final two minutes and Esperanza made Stacy Jarne’s goal on a breakaway in the first overtime period stand up for a 2-1 victory.
With Los Alamitos in desperate shape and pushing the attack with two minutes left in the final overtime, Sharp stopped a blast off the foot of Cyndi Tredway, left unmarked in the middle of the box, then made a diving stop of a shot that Tredway tried to snake left to the far post with her right foot. Los Alamitos outshot Esperanza, 13-7. Sharp made five saves overall.
“I was just thinking about keeping the ball out of the net,” Sharp said. “I acted out of instinct. They really wanted to get back at us. All we wanted to do was hold on.”
Sixth-ranked Esperanza (13-4-3, 4-1), which lost at home to Los Alamitos, 1-0, earlier this season, pulled to within a half game of fourth-ranked Los Alamitos (14-4-2, 5-1).
Los Alamitos made effective use of space on the wings and took a 1-0 lead in the 61st minute on a goal by Kristi Bissonnette off a Tredway cross.
The Aztecs, however, demonstrated superior conditioning after that, a point Los Alamitos Coach Rich Manning did not contend.
“We’re just not fit,” he said. “They wore us down and their goalkeeper made two nice saves.”
Esperanza pushed an extra attacker into the box late in regulation and the tactic kept Los Alamitos tightly packed. Esperanza’s Kim Domen pounded a header past Griffin goalkeeper Jenny Willemse with about three minutes left to tie, 1-1.
Jarne, a junior forward, stripped one Los Alamitos defender of the ball just outside the penalty arc and outran another and kicked the winner.
In other Sunset League games:
Marina 1, Fountain Valley 0--Monique Alvino scored the only goal in the 45th minute for Marina (10-6-1, 3-2-0).
Edison 4, Huntington Beach 2--Heidi Prestegard had two goals and two assists to lead Edison (10-7-1, 4-2). Prestegard has a combined five goals and three assists in the last two games.
